Bridle bit



Dec. 11, 1923.

H. A. OELKERS BRIDLE BIT File y 22. 1922 Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

UNITED STATES HENRY A. OELKERS, OF MAZEPPA, MINNESOTA.

BRIDLE BIT.

Application filed May 22, 1922. Serial No. 562,734.

To ll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. OELKERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mazeppa, in the county of Wa-basha and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bridle Bits, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to bridle bits, and has for its object to providea bridle bit capable of correcting the improper position of the head ofan animal.

It is another object of the invention to provide a bit of thischaracter, which permits the animal to be driven in the usual manner,and yet is provided with means for causing the animal to hold its headstraight to carry the load or draft evenly.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a bridle bit of thischaracter including a sectional mouth piece having projecting from oneof the sections a member arranged to cause the animal to turn its headin the direction of trav' l without interfering with the operation ofthe bit when the animal is turned by the driver to either side to changethe direction of travel.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theimproved construction and arrangement of parts to be herein after moreparticularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of abridle bit constructed in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; and

Figure 3 is a detailed plan view of one section of the bit.

It is a well known fact that it is rather difiicult to break an animal,such as a horse or colt, of the habit of turning their heads so far toone side as to cause the load or draft to be on one shoulder, thusoverdeveloping the shoulder and causing sweeming. To correct thiscondition and at the same time provide a bridle bit that may be used inthe well known manner there is provided a mouth iece 5 includingsections 6 and 7, the sect1on 6 consisting of a length of materialhaving an eye 8 formed at one end thereof, the opposite end portion beinextended back upon the portion 9 to provi e an eye 10. The eye 8 of thesection 6 is disposed substantially in a plane parallel to the plane ofthe eye 10.

The section 7 of the mouth piece consists of a length of material havingan eye 11 formed in one end thereof adapted to receive a portion of thesection 7 forming the eye 8 so as to provide a jointed or movable bit.This connection is of conventional for mation. The outer end portion 12of the section 7 is extended at right angles to the end portion 13 ofsaid. section to provide a jaw arm, the diameter of the jaw beingconsiderably smaller than the diameter of the end portion 13 of thesection, the extremity of the jaw arm being curved upwardly. Projectingfrom the central portion of the section 7, or in other Words, at thejunction of the jaw arm 12 with the end portion 13, is an extension 1 1,said extension being formed integral with the central portion of thesection and being also extended back upon the section 13 to provide aneye 15. The eyes 15 and 10 of the sections 7 and 6 are intended toreceive the usual rein rings 16. These rings if desired may be providedwith cheek arms 17.

This bit is intended to be made in two styles, one with a jaw armprojecting from the lefthand section of the mouth piece and one with ajaw arm projecting from the right-hand section of the mouth piece. Thepurpose of this is to permit the bit having the right-hand jaw arm to beused on an animal which is in the habit of turning its head to the left,while the bit having the arm on the left-hand side is intended to beused on an animal in the habit of turning its head to the right.

In the application of the bit, the bit is positioned so that the jaw arm12 projects backwardly along the jaw. When the driver pulls on the reinsthe mouth piece will break in the center in the usual manner and causethe jaw arm to pr the horse on its jaw, thereby forcing its ead from theside to a position directly front.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that this invention providesa novel form of bridle bitcapable of correcting the imroper position ofthe head of an animal in a short length of time, during which period theanimal is caused to pull directly ahead so that the strain of the draftis applied to both shoulders. All of these fea tures are possessed by abridle bit which is durable and simple constrnction What i sQ- A bridlebit inc uding a pair of mouth piece sections universally eonneeted attheir adjacent inner ends, and 5 r ea rwardly projecting arm rigid Withthe outer end of one of said sections and extending at right anglesthereto to provide an arm for engagemednt vfvithdthe jaw of an animal,the outer en s o sari section havi r al a; exens e ur i- 112110 i g i ie s f rein rings, the 0!; er of said sections being devoid of arms orprojections.

In testinioiii w'he'rdfq hereunto afiix my signature.

HENRY A. OELKERS.

